Trump’s claim at a White House briefing — “It’s a very contagious virus. It’s incredible. But it’s something we have tremendous control of” — was sharply at odds with the assessment of public health experts, including one who appeared with him at the same briefing.
Facts First: Experts say the US does not have the virus even close to contained. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in his own comments after Trump left the room: “The worst is yet ahead for us. It is how we respond to that challenge that is going to determine what the ultimate end point is going to be. We have a very, very critical point now.”
Trump has repeatedly claimed, falsely, to have the virus under control. He said in late January, soon after the US announced its first confirmed case, that “we have it totally under control.” He said in late February, when the number of confirmed US cases was in the low dozens, that “we have it very much under control in this country.”
Other senior members of Trump’s team have made similar false claims. Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, has said that the virus “is contained,”while Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the President, has said that it “is being contained.”
After the Sunday briefing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that, for the next eight weeks, people cancel or postpone events anywhere in the country consisting of 50 or more people.
Trump said: “Young people, people of good health, and — groups of people — just are not strongly affected.” He continued, “Elderly people that are not well, not well in certain respects, are really a very dangerous group. We have to watch them.”
“Younger people should be concerned for two reasons. You are not immune or safe from getting seriously ill. Even though when you look at the total numbers, it’s overwhelmingly weighted towards the elderly and those with underlying conditions. But the virus isn’t a mathematical formula. There are going to be people who are young who are going to wind up getting seriously ill. So protect yourself,” Fauci said on CNN.
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Article URL : https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/15/politics/fact-check-trump-control-coronavirus/index.html